Despite years of comic-book history identify both as mutants of the X-Men variety, forthcoming Marvel titles will reveal that both Wolverine and Squirrel Girl are, in fact, Inhumans. This won’t be the first time Marvel has made such changes; Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had their origins tweaked to tighten Marvel Studios’ grip on both characters. And few non-comic-book readers have much sense of Squirrel Girl, rumored to be making an appearance in either the forthcoming Luke Cage series, or the next season of Jessica Jones. But Logan, aka Wolverine, has been identified with the X-Men since nearly his first appearance.

The move comes as part of a broader strategy by Disney/Marvel….

…of undercutting properties for which they do not hold the movie rights. Part of that strategy has manifested itself in a decline in X-Mutants in their comics, and a rise in the similar but previously obscure Inhumans. And, just possibly, the recent and temporary death of Wolverine in the comic books. But while Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will appear in one more solo film and perhaps, other X-Man productions, it seems likely Marvel wants to make the case for having a version of the character also appear in forthcoming MCU films. According to Marvel spokesperson Irv Forbush, who was interviewed by Ain’t It Cool News, “our two most popular characters, prior to the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, were Spider-man and Wolverine, and we couldn’t put either in our films. We cut a deal with Sony after their Spidey series started to blow plasticine moose, but we could not make similar arrangements for Wolverine. Fox still owns the rights, frankly. But who knows? With the change to his origin, well, perhaps he’ll be snikking his way into our Phase 3 Films.”